weeds 9 May 2009
I am going to take it as a compliment that my garden is so weedfriendly. The dandelions in particular are having a wonderful time, as is the ivy (which I think is a total pest) and the brambles. For no apparent reason the brambles on the left hand side don’t fruit whereas those to the right do, so I’ll be hacking back the lefties on the morrow. The sycamore that I let grow in a pot because it had pretty leaves and stem colours went nuts while I was in Devon and has now booked itself in for the summer – I just can’t bring myself to kill or simply chuck it when it looks so healthy and happy. Tomorrow I am going to add a metal angel to the collection of objets on the beautiful garden wall – it’s from Fowey, Cornwall, and will remind me of my recent visit. It’ll be alongside all sorts in terracotta and metal and concrete from all round the world. I love that wall so much that we have left a stretch of it that is now incorporated into the house (courtesy of the build), uncovered, and it’s a most unusual and pretty thing, I think.
No, no sign of the builders today, even though they said they’d be back around 11 to finish off the installation of a sliding door. I’ll be glad to be in London for the finishing of the whole project as I can do without the rising blood pressure that comes with the dillydallying ways of these guys!
The sausages and mash and Fine Wines at Ms Smurfits were a total success and we have lured new people into eating sausages with marmalade – a marriage made in heaven…try it, you KNOW you want to…
dash 8 May 2009
Eh, no, Richard, I did not post the ‘eyes’ blog twice cos there are 2 of them…seems I got a wise-ass husband, eh?
Devon looked so beautiful as I left this morning. A dream would be if we could make the whole series of Jam and Jerusalem there but that would be prohibitively expensive. I stayed with my lovely friends Ella, Dan and Dave the Dog last night in North Tawton (which is Clatterford in the series) and they cooked pork from one of their own pigs, who lived and died happily by all accounts – totally delicious and a different and much better taste to what we all buy in the supermarket. Fab.
I travelled back to Dublin this morning in the exotically named DeHavilland Dash – it’s a turbo prop kinda aircraft (apparently). I think that sounds so…well…dashing. I just wish the actual travelling was as exotic or glamorous. I’m guessing that the only truly glamorous journey left anymore is on the Orient Express which is quite formal with dressing for dinner and the like. Other than that, for me, travelling is a waste of time and a bit of a pain in the butt.
I really did think the house would be finished when I got back – it ain’t. A few things happened today but it’ll be another week…ah well…
The G cat also seems to have issues with her living arrangements if the amount of chatting and complaining I’ve heard this afternoon are anything to go by.
And the garden is attempting to go feral again – time to lure Richard out there and try to get him to fall in love with it.
Off to a Sausages and Mash and Fine Wine OCTOBER reunion chez Ms Vic Smurfit tonight and thrilled to be seeing the lads and lassies of that production again. More on that anon!
eyes 7 May 2009
oooh, the things you learn and have never thought through anyhow cos why would you – one of the consequences of bungee jumping, apparently, is that you may end up with eyeballs pulled out of your head which makes sense as in G force tugging bits of you that are on basically held in place on strings out of their mooring. there’s an answer as to whether i’ll be trying that one…
thanks to the young ladies who left the lovely message about us in the north tawton church guest book made us feel very special.
thanks also to my new website friend who had a similar poo in the sea experience as myself while growing up and told me they referred to swimming in it as ‘going through the motions’ – TOP!
and the great irish actor jonathan white reminded me that i have indeed lived through an actual fire – we did a great production of OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD in dublin once and, while the warehouse next door was burning down, felt so strongly about that show that we insisted on finishing it – and most of the audience stayed too – madness i know but it was that moving a play to do and we were so proud of it, and happily the punters mostly agreed, but of course it was madness to continue as we did. the fire in north bovey the other night led us to asking one another what we’d save if we had one item and your people and pets are out – tough decision…
eyes 7 May 2009
oooh, the things you learn and have never thought through anyhow cos why would you – one of the consequences of bungee jumping, apparently, is that you may end up with eyeballs pulled out of your head which makes sense as in G force tugging bits of you that are on basically held in place on strings out of their mooring. there’s an answer as to whether i’ll be trying that one…
thanks to the young ladies who left the lovely message about us in the north tawton church guest book made us feel very special.
thanks also to my new website friend who had a similar poo in the sea experience as myself while growing up and told me they referred to swimming in it as ‘going through the motions’ – TOP!
and the great irish actor jonathan white reminded me that i have indeed lived through an actual fire – we did a great production of OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD in dublin once and, while the warehouse next door was burning down, felt so strongly about that show that we insisted on finishing it – and most of the audience stayed too – madness i know but it was that moving a play to do and we were so proud of it, and happily the punters mostly agreed, but of course it was madness to continue as we did. the fire in north bovey the other night led us to asking one another what we’d save if we had one item and your people and pets are out – tough decision…
soot 6 May 2009
The fire tender came back yesterday and doused the ruined house down – it looks so sad now, just a blackened shell. The house next to it is in tatters too. We got to talking about firemen, of course, as well as to them as often as possible – they are hot and heroes so it’s a perfect combo for us ladies. Miss Maggie Steed told us a great story over breakfast about her teenage boycat, Billy, disappearing up the chimney. She really didn’t know what to do about it and rang the fire brigade who said they’d come out, even though she was just looking for advice and didn’t want to be taking up their precious time. They arrived in the tender and 6 of them got out, and were like Bruce Willis and his mates in ARMAGEDDON, walking large and slow-mo towards her while announcing ‘we’re the cat lovers’. They could find no sign of the cat and he wasn’t making a sound but as they were there they gave Maggie’s house the once over, firewise. Well, yes, you can imagine talk of giving her chimney a good seeing to or clearing out her flue and so on (sorry, but they take your comedy card away if you don’t get those ones in). Moments after they’d gone one of the lads returned carrying a very bewildered ginger cat – not Miss Steed’s as it turned out. And about 20 minutes after that again Billy appeared out of the chimney none the worse for wear – yes, you’ve guessed it – Maggie Steed’s sooty pussy…These are the days when I realise that I may never actually grow up…
I think I may have handled every variety of leaf available in the hedgerows between here and Moretonhampstead, where I walk to get Wifi on the days I’m not filming. Everything is tender and new – some are velvety and others silky. Just glorious. There are various birds nesting in the trees and you can just about hear the tweeting of the chicks in their nests. And I’ve met quite a few bumblebees out and about – they’re my favourite of the flying insects. All in all a healthy and calming time. However it’s winding down now and I’ll be back briefly to Dublin at the weekend to check if the builders have come back and finished the feckin house – yes, ongoing, my dears, ongoing…then we go into the studio in London to complete the series and that’s lot more like regular work because we all go home to our separate abodes each night. We’ll pine for Devon till the next time (and hopefully there will be a next time)
The vote is in for ROOFS rather than rooves as the plural of roof…controversial…
inferno 5 May 2009
We had high drama in the village last night – a house by the square burned down. It was perilously close to utter tragedy but luckily the man who lives there was out with his dogs when it started and no one was hurt and it was stopped before it spread throughout. The village is little more than a green surrounded by thatched houses and it was one of these that caught fire. There were 12 fire tenders fighting the blaze at one stage and of course the worry was that the sparks would catch in other rooves*, including our own, so we were prepared to evacuate if necessary. In the end the brave firefighters (such heroes) brought the inferno under control. Today there is nothing left of the house but a section of one wall and a bit of chimney – there are still smoulders of smoke rising from the ruin. I went to bed when we knew the worst was over but I hear that Miss Sue Johnston invited all of the firefighters and assorted emergency personnel back to the inn where we’re billetted and served teas and coffees well into the night.
I haven’t had much to do with fire in my lifetime, aside from the domestic blaze of a winter’s evening, though I remember my Dad’s place of work burning down, when we were kids growing up in Galway, and the whole town turned out to watch it. Other than that we had a chimney fire once, which was really frightening, and the brigade came screaming down the road sirens blaring and I remember being half way between awe and utter embarrassment that they coming to our house.
*is this the plural for roof? It looks odd but I THINK it’s right??
priates 4 May 2009
seems all things shanty and piratical are IN right now – i saw a poster for a Pirate and Shanty Festival while on the road back from cornwall to devon. i wonder if there’s a season for such things – if so i haven’t heard of it till now.
i also hear it’s a bank holiday – we’re working – enjoy!
winter is back here in devon – brr – bit like the sea water yesterday.
must dash as i am being shifted out of the good signal area and run the risk of being left behind on a strange hill…
readymoney 3 May 2009
I swam in Fowey this morning in a VERY cold sea – it was a point of principle (the sea was there, needed to be used and adored and there was a vague dare in the air) rather than a thing of beauty to behold. I refrained from screaming and/or swearing as there was a small boy on the beach. It was entirely bracing and I felt SO HEALTHY – but I really couldn’t stay in longer than a minute. The water was incredibly clear and the cove we swam in is (gloriously) called Readymoney Beach so there’ s not a lot to argue with there, it seems to me.
I grew up near a beach in the west of Ireland and we swam a lot. It’s a bit of a dream for me that one day I might live close to the sea again and near a mountain or two. I’d better start saving son for all of that. As a child, though, I remember the day we were all swimming and playing on our local beach and were intrigued by new shapes passing us in the water – on closer investigation it turned out to be untreated sewage – never felt the same way about my local after that.
fowey 2 May 2009
sorry for the lateness of this – no reason but that i am having a majorly good time in a place called fowey in cornwall at the moment – pronounced ‘foy’, by the by. some of you will remember that i had a great time here last year at the daphne du maurier festival when i gave a ‘talk’ about my book work. this year i am a guest in the home of a friend – possibly the most beautiful house i have ever been in, let alone had the delight of staying in, with excellent company. myself and the other mate here, aside from our hostess, did some fab, yet recessionista, shopping here today and had an afternoon tea to die for and tomorrow are going to throw ourselves into the sea – hopefully there’ll be a bit of visibility (this morning was foggy and SO heartachingly moving) so that the lady of the house can see us run in and squeal and then be totally proud of ourselves for being ‘hard’. then we return to devon for work.
in the meantime, can i point you all to a site called chasethelions.com where you will find the portal to all your rugby/lions delights and also just fun even if you have no notion of what rugby is all about much less the lions tour of south africa – basically, for only 25 euro, you can be up to date on each day of the tour BUT ALSO see some live and EXCLUSIVE fun each night on the web AND enjoy rugby if you like it but have a laugh anyhow even if you couldn’t give a hoot about sport (also some great competition opportunities) – give it a look and you just might get hooked.
marquee 1 May 2009
We had sea shanty singing in our lodgings last night – part of it is a pub (oh joy!). The performers stood in the bar and Simon, our landlord, declared the heavy door dividing it from the lounge to be a ‘shanty baffle’. In the event it wasn’t needed as we all sang along anyhow. We have a Simon acting in the show too and I have now deemed him Simon The Lesser to distinguish him from Mr Simon Saunders, landlord extraordinaire. I have yet to break this news to the other Simon. It may get ugly.
We did a big marquee scene today in a field above ‘our town’ and Miss Maggie Steed was bedecked in lavender – you’ll realise why when you see the series – which outfit includes one of those little arrangements that go into a hairdo, usually for a wedding or big doo – we have learned that it is called ‘a fascinator.’ Never let it be said that I don’t provide you all with gems of learning!